physically separated from the building. >> could you explain again how you would probably flash the -- [inaudible] with the stucco wall? >> if you're rebuilding the stair, if you're starting from scratch and going to put the stairs in, you want to put the stairs in first and you have two options. one is to put the stairs in first and run a regularlet around the stairs that the stucco comes down to. a reglet is an l-shaped piece of metal that you're waterproofing for the stucco that goes behind distribute stucco goes on top of. it's a piece of flashing and that follows -- they'll make it -- it follows the curves and the whole edge of the stairs. and so you can put that on there, the stucco paper comes down there and you would stucco on top that have after and then you have a little caulk joint that is just something you have to maintain. it's not critical, that goes between the reglet and president stair.

that will keep the stucco from cracking. >> here's an example of why we need to maintain a distance clearance between the dwround and the siding. you see this wood siding goes right down to the concrete sidewalk and it's rotting at the bottom. that rot is just going to run up through the wood and into the framing behind and once again -- now this is interesting. those are wood stairs in a wood structure. much better solution. they're also protected because they're inside. so they're not going to have as much of a problem. they still have a joint there which is a leak problem that has to be caulked. this is sort of an interesting exercise. as you walk down the street i want to you look at the buildings carefully and see if you can see the space between the buildings in san francisco. and here we have a space that's about 3 fourth of an inch or an inch or something like that -- 3/4 of an -- 3 fourth of an inch or an -- 3/ of an inch or

an inch, or something like that. you do a roof and your neighbor does a roof and you put a piece of flashing between the building and that keeps water out of that space between the buildings. water gets down there between the buildings and it's extremely difficult to repair dry rot inside that space. you have to take the inside wall out to get to it. we also see a couple of other things happening here. we see a down spout from a drain and those need to just be checked to make sure they're secure. they usually have lightweight connecters so you have to make sure they stay connected. here's a gutter at the top. people let their gutters fill up with debris. you need to clean a gutter out. how often? >> if you're near a pine tree, there's a lot of pines in san francisco, the needles can fill up, you -- probably twice, at least twice a year.

it depends on where -- how many trees are near your house and what kind of leaves they have. >> so if the gutter fills up or even just enough to block that little down spout there, that's enough to have the water overflow into some location where you don't want it to be. either underneath in the front or under in the back or something. and cause real serious problems. >> we just had a situation off of a street in the jordan park area of san francisco where the down spout was blocked up and it just went over the lip back under the siding and it rotted out the whole quarter -- corner of the house just because a lack of maintenance, a lack of failure to clean out the gutter. >> i put this in here because the stairs and various kinds of tile work can be so beautiful and san francisco has so much lovely work. it's not impossible to maintain. all you have to do is scrub it

and clean it and once every 40 years have someone come through and polish it and it's gorgeous. the lack of simple maintenance will cost serious problems. here's a metal grill, metal gate. i'm sorry to say we see these all over san francisco. i'm sorry to say we have to live in a place where people feel it necessary to lock themselves in and lock people out. this is rusting. it tells me a couple of things. it tells me it was not hot dipped when they made it. it was not hot dipped galvanized. somebody chose to paint it and the paint is not being maintained. it's hard to get in there with the wire brush and scrape the soul off but that's what you have to do. wire brush it. wire brush? >> just on the top. [inaudible] >> it's really long-term problem. >> there's a house that we built, it's a great highway,

and it's got a hot dipped galvanized gate. not similar but similar material and out there, out in the sunset, it's really -- even on hot tip galvanized, it's really rough. the salt air. wd-409 hinges, all the moving parts, the strike, everything you have to really maintain with oil, the wd-40 is a good example. and -- because they'll just lock up. freeze up. >> here's my favorite lubricant. i wish i had a bottle of it here. i go to the bicycle store and i buy lubricant for bicycle chains and bicycles. it has a much longer life than wd-40. wd-40 is thin. it's good for soaking into things. but the bicycle lock -- bicycle lubricant you'll find has a very long life a6 c1 long life, and usually it has a

little tiny toes on the end. this stuff is great. it is much longer life. it is good all over the house, and it does not smell. we can divide the world into people who like the smell and do not like it. here is another problem. we brought along -- this is not the same thing. this is a huge distribution register, but it looks similar. when you use something on the exterior of the building, it will rust. has to be maintained. take robert brush, scrub it down, prime it tough.

how much does it cost? >> $7. >> it is not very green, though. lawrence. >> here is somebody who saved $7 and put in an old or register for the heating system. jefit is beautiful, but the spas are too big, so insects can get in. but it's beautiful. >> that can be solved with a screen on the back. >> good idea. it's beautiful, good use of an old piece of equipment. here at the bottom, brick veneer is falling off, water will run in the cracks.

if it were my house, i would explore what was happening here. all these openings, they are to read meters and so on and are big enough for racoons to get in. these are big holes. water intrusion is a serious problem. everything about this building is well-maintained, lighting in the front, t.v. cameras. this kind of lighting is no longer allowed. the energy code says you have to have lighting that is high- efficacy, meaning lots of lumens per watt. you can't just screw bulbs in

any longer. it may not be done. i want to mention, it's not just the front of your building, it's your yard, too. the preventative maintainence would say, get some hot nails or screws or something designed for exterior use and screw them on. fix it before it breaks is the goal. everybody has a shed. the code says you can have a shed as long as it's not over 100 square feet of projected roof area. >> california code says 120 square feet. san francisco says 100. fire escapes need lots of

maintainence. this requires a fire escape person or contractor to test it, lube it, maintain it. you have to keep it painted and scrubbed. wire brush. this is one of those folding ladders, which we used to approve. we still approve other folding ladders. what do you have to do? >> if any of you have a ladder you are depending on for eggress, you don't want to wait until there is a fire. there is a lever to pull, and you should check it once a year to make sure it is still

working, the bolts haven't rusted out, the mechanism still works. they're dangerous enough to use in a fire, but if they aren't working perfectly, there is more of a danger trying to use these ladders than there is running through fire. bucha>> you can climb down easi. my mother can. my wife can. >> if you are trying to get out with a toddler or a baby, forget it. >> for that reason, we no longer allow people to put those letters there and say it is equivalent, because clearly it is not. >> it was the code for years.

>> fire escapes are much better. they provide a spare and a handrail. and at that point, we expect the hard part will have a letter at the bottom. >> it is a bold. it could rust out. you have to make sure it is the cure. -- it's a bolt. it could rust out. you have to make sure it's secure. >> check it and fix it before it is a problem. and here is a wooden ladder. about six months ago, the board of supervisors passed a law that said every wooden ladder must be removed. that follows the unfortunate

death of somebody who fell backwards and died. you cannot use these, and i would never encourage somebody. i certainly could not climb one of these. who knows what is holding it on? rusty nails? let's talk about groups. we did not expect homeowners to get on the route to often, but sometimes you can get up on your flat roofs. what do you have to do for routine maintenance on those? >> you can always tell, if groups are starting to bubble, that is a sign, it protect the roofing membrane from the sun so if there is none, ultraviolet light will be deteriorating, and it will start to bubble.

all of the route jacks are the first signs of with a member in fails, so you want to check around those. all of those areas you have to check. anywhere there is penetration, those are the areas you really want to check. >> a flat roof like this with reflective coating needs to be recut it regularly. if you fail, the protection is gone and the roof deteriorate rapidly. it is not just silver paint, it is roof coating. so typically you need to hire the report to come back and apply a new coaching. you can say you want a uv- resistant coating, but it has to be compatible with what you have up there. roofs need maintenance.

call and ask. if you do not do that, the life is short and pepper sibley. go over it and fix it up, that is a good savings. >> if you go up there in your coaching is not peeling or bubbling, it is fine. the group is good for 30 years. it needs to repaint every 5. if it starts peeling, that means it is time to do it. if it is solid, it is fine. >> you should climb into your

well and clean that shock, those ducks. there is a drain out there. this is an endless source of leaks. there are all of these penetrations, so it must be kept immaculately clean. hardwood floors? here is what you do not do. you do not wash the floors with water. they get warped and water gets underneath the finnish and so on. there are special product. but the worst thing you can do is wash them with water. wipe them up. >> at most stores there is a system called bona. it comes with a mop and a spray

, and we recommend for all of the installation we do. >> good. we also talked about carpet cleaning, that is straightforward. but one thing wall-to-wall carpet can have done is have it restretched, and if it starts to fold and bubble and so on, you can't have people, and they can knock it back in and restart the carpet and get more time out of it. also, i have this done every few years, go round with blue tape, and every place you see a thing or death, you take this tape and say it needs a touch up there. just walk around and figure out where it goes and have a touch up paint day or two, and then

the house look so much nicer after you do that. use blue tape, because it does not use an adhesive residue. you do not want to walk run with a paint pale wondering what needs to be punched up. i asked my wife to go around with tape, right? that works really well. sometimes you see sash cords on these wood frame windows. i brought these weights here with some old courts. you probably have seen these things. if the court breaks, this thing is going to drop. so a lot times in these columns, you hear a huge raveling and great pounding noises. that is mostly these weights banging around in the little box channel, the little wooden boxes

there. so if you ever wonder why is it so loud, these guys, hanging around. they are tied on there. it is easy to do to take off the tram and replace the court, but it is not something every homeowner wants to get involved anin. it is straight forward if you're ready to do, but a homeowner might have a hard time making it look good. >> take your roller. >> yes, the roller. a lot of times that painted the sash cord, also.

the setscrews are tight and lubricated and you can polish them up if you want. this particular one is nickel, you can polish it up and it looks good for 60 years. interior door hardware, i like bicycle lubricants. smoke detectors and heat registers, we have registered here, these things come right off, you can lift them up and make sure they are clean, it is a convenient thing to do and reduces dust. smoke detectors, they say every time your time changes from daylight savings, you want to change the battery. people say not to use the good batteries, the alkaline batteries. what can we do in our toilet compartment and back rooms for maintenance? >> check the four bolts.

examine the line. >> they listen up sometimes and a whole plan loosens up, those are easy things for a homeowner to tighten up, extremely easy. he put on gloves and tighten it up and get underneath. it only takes a second to do it. hardware, often these things will tarnish, these nice, expensive things. you need so were polish or some other polish and polish it just like you would polish any other metal, in contact with all sorts of liquids all day long. flooring, we have tile flooring that can be maintained and scrubbed clean. we have an list problems with showers and mold and mildew. here is my number one solution. put in an operable skylight. if you are on the top for a residential design the -- of a residential building, put in a

skylight. that is the answer of 90% of the problems, because then you have a constant flow of air that leaves the sky like open. scarlets are ridiculously cheap , and an operable skylight probably will not cost $300 to buy and not that much to install. they are cheap, and you can leave it open and you always have air. you'll not have mouldy mildred build up. do you have any other thoughts on what to do about mold and mildew? >> grout has to be sealed every year. again, you want to use a fungicide for cleaning it and seal it once a year, if you have a bathtub with tiles coming around, you want to really maintain that joint between the

towel -- towel and bathtub. >> for energy consumption, the shower head has to cut off valve. you do not need water running all the time. you can shut it off without having to reset the temperature. just do not use a plumber's wrench or you will ruin the material. kitchen appliances, the lahood needs to have the screen and filter cleaned probably if you cook a lot once a month. take it out and put it in the dishwasher. that is what i recommend. take that out. all of these goods have a screen and filter that filters out the papers, and you stick it in the dishwasher. every couple of years, take up your support thanks.

every fireplace? >> you want to make sure the damper is working in the shut position and you do not have the fire on so you're not losing energy for the outside and it is easy to open when you're going to use a fire. you want to lubricate that and make sure it works properly, you want to make sure the door is sealed so if it is a gas unit, there is no gas leaking into your room, and if you have a wood burning fireplace you should have every summer or once a year, you should have your chimney cleaned out because chimney fires are a huge cost of residential fires and that is when the chimneys are not cleaned out, they are fire starters there. so it is critical that if you

are going to use a wood burning fireplace, you ain't it out once a year. >> people often say you should bring your water hero. we have such clean water in san francisco, i have not seen that to be an issue. but if you need to take action, not in san francisco. it is not an issue. this is your emergency water supply. make sure they are strapped like that. garage doors, get lubricant and just lubricate those things and clean the bottom, clean it off and lubricated. it will last an awful lot longer. fire extinguishers obviously are good home maintenance. >> you have to make sure that they are up to date. it changes every couple of years. >> and blasting a wanted to mention was earthquake safety. when you do your home maintenance, preventing damage from earthquakes is a big piece

of this, and it is a valuable piece of ceramic with the group on the bottom that keeps it from sliding off the shelf. there are so many things you can do that any home maintenance can do. preventative maintenance. there is much you can do yourself and much you can do when you hire a contractor. just send a handyman a list of stuff. you do not have to do the whole thing. just do a day's worth of work and you can do an awful lot. thank you for coming and